“I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.” (1 John 2:14)

There are two commendations about the “young men” (typically applied to those under 40) that John notes. They are “strong” (vigorous, healthy, both physically and mentally) and the word of God “abides” (remains, endures) in them. These are those who have come through their believing childhood, no doubt guided and counseled by the “fathers” in their lives, who are now active in the “good fight of faith” (1 Timothy 6:12).

Like Abraham, they are “strong in faith” (Romans 4:20), not staggering under the burden of unbelief. Like the leaders in the church at Rome, they are willing to “bear the infirmities of the weak” (Romans 15:1) and to be alert, standing “fast in the faith” (1 Corinthians 16:13). Even though they would have faced opposition from among professing Christians, they were “strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 2:1).

These are the ones who refused to handle the “word of God deceitfully” (2 Corinthians 4:2), but gladly received it as “it is in truth, the word of God” (1 Thessalonians 2:13). They know that “the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword” (Hebrews 4:12), and have taken time to store the Word in their heart (Psalm 119:11). These “young men” know that if God’s “words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15:7).

Those attributes make possible the result: “Ye have overcome the wicked one.” Safe in the secure saving faith of God, guided by the great truths of the Word of God, these young men have not been “overcome of evil” but have “overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21). HMM III